Discourse on the Venerable 318 God-Bearing Fathers and on Constantine the Most Pious Emperor (Gregory the Presbyter of Caesarea)

Discourse on the Venerable 318 God-Bearing Fathers and on Constantine the Most Pious Emperor 

By Gregory the Presbyter of Caesarea in Cappadocia*

Having been permitted by the apostolic exhortation to obey those who rule, O lover of God, and, as it were, having forgotten my own weakness, and having overlooked the lack of elegance in my discourse, I submitted myself to the honored Father, who was proposing to me that I should write briefly concerning the gathering at Nicaea of the holy three hundred and eighteen Fathers, and that I should present it also to the most holy Church in Nicaea under his care; so that the narratives might preserve in written form both the spiritual struggle of those whose bodily presence it had enjoyed. And indeed, the things spoken by me according to my own ability, in comparison with the surpassing greatness of the virtuous conduct of the Fathers, I would say resemble the smallness of dew contending against ocean waves; but of his perfection it would be fitting not to direct the mind toward the grandeur of the words, but rather to measure the zeal of sympathy by the eagerness of obedience.

When Maximian and Licinius and Maxentius had ruled impiously in Rome, and had subjected to tortures and death many who refused to sacrifice to demons and abandon the faith of the Christians, and had themselves found in the destruction of their lives a fitting reward for their madness toward idols, then wondrously from the regions of the West there arose, like the morning star, Constantine the most Christ-loving, the leader of orthodox rule and the champion of the spotless faith; who, at the same time that he transferred the imperial scepters from the West to the East, had his soul illumined by the divine light. And having anointed his mind with piety, he entered first into contest against the devil; and he established everywhere decrees granting freedom to Christians; he dissolved the dejection that had fallen upon the faithful from the lawless; he cast down the revered objects of the idols; he triumphed over the nonexistence of falsehood; he made manifest the proclamation of the truth; he bestowed honor and boldness upon those who honored the Lord; the bodies of the faithful, injured by scourges, were restored, while those devoted to demons were subjected to torture and exile. And it was possible to behold both the recall of the faithful from persecution and the recovery of those from demonic delusion, resembling an angelic choir, while all with boldness glorified the Lord.

Homily Two on the Ascension of the Lord (St. Sergius Mechev)

 

Homily Two on the Ascension of the Lord 

By Holy Hieromartyr Sergius Mechev

“Clap your hands, all you nations; shout to God with a voice of rejoicing.”

Today the Holy Church calls us to gladness and joy. But wherein does this joy consist, and why should we rejoice?

Today we celebrate the Ascension of our Lord Jesus Christ from earth to heaven. Today the Lord has ascended, and therefore “all you nations clap your hands, for the Lord has ascended to where He was before” (Sticheron at “Lord, I have cried,” 1st).

If the Lord had not ascended into heaven, but had continued to remain on earth, then this great joy would not exist, because then the work of our salvation, for which the Lord came down to earth, would not have been completed. Therefore we must rejoice today, because the Lord ascended bodily into heaven. The Lord descended from heaven in order to restore human nature, fallen into corruption, “to raise it up and glorify it together with Himself” (Canon 1, Ode 3) — to bring it back to its former state, truly making us gods by grace. For “the Word of God became man so that we might become deified” (Saint Athanasios the Great, On the Incarnation of the Word, ch. 59).

The Visitation of Elder Eumenios to a Homosexual Couple With AIDS

 

By Fr. Evangelos Papanikolaou -
Priest, Medical Doctor, Author

Two of these young men were at one point discharged from the Hospital for Infectious Diseases in Attica and went back to their home, where they lived together. When they later went again to the Elder Eumenios (+ 5/23/1999) to see him, they said to him: “Elder, all this time that we have been coming here, you have fed us, given us drink, and cared for us. We also want to invite you one day to our home, so that we may take care of you.”

So the Elder said to me:

“Vangelis, we shall go.”

I said:

“Elder, where are we going? These people are…”

“Vangelis, I know, I know what they are…”

“But, Elder, these two are living together. They live in the same house. They also wear rings.”

Holy Apostle Carpos of the Seventy in the Hymnography of the Orthodox Church

By Fr. George Dorbarakis

1. This great Apostle of the Lord, who was numbered by the Lord Himself among the seventy disciples and apostles, and who ministered to the great Paul in his preaching, as well as carried his divine epistles to those to whom they were sent, taught many of the pagans to worship the Holy Trinity. Therefore, when his mind was illumined by the divine radiance of the Paraclete (on the day of Pentecost), and he arose like an unsetting sun from the East, he enlightened the whole world with his divine teachings, performing exceedingly wondrous miracles daily and saving many from evil spirits.

He drew many cities and peoples to the Christian faith, and through holy baptism the believers were thus separated from the unbelievers, with the result that he endured many persecutions and afflictions from the unbelievers. And this was because, advancing with complete steadfastness toward the harshest and most painful tortures, he did not shrink at all before the wrath of rulers. Therefore, because he glorified God also with his very body, he was glorified by Him in a radiant manner. He reposed in the Lord, and now works miracles daily through his relics, healing every kind of illness and driving away unclean spirits.

Prologue in Sermons: May 26

One Must Not Leave Church Before the End of the Service

May 26

(A discourse on how the devil leads people out of church before the dismissal.)
 
By Archpriest Victor Guryev

Some people, out of laziness, leave church before the end of the service and think that it is nothing serious. But in reality, brethren, this is very wrong; for it is none other than the devil himself who leads us out of church before the proper time. Therefore, when we leave church before we should, we thereby do what is pleasing to the enemy of our salvation. We shall now prove this to you.

THE SEVENTH SUNDAY AFTER PASCHA - SUNDAY OF THE HOLY FATHERS OF THE FIRST ECUMENICAL SYNOD

By Archpriest Grigory Dyachenko

The High-Priestly Prayer of Jesus Christ

While celebrating the final Passover with His disciples, the Lord Jesus Christ prayed at the end of the Passover supper in these words: “Father, the hour has come; glorify Your Son, that Your Son also may glorify You” (John 17:1–13). This Gospel passage, in which the teaching concerning the consubstantiality of the Son of God with God the Father — and thus His Divinity — is set forth so clearly in the very words of Jesus Christ Himself, is appointed to be read on the Sunday of the Holy Fathers of the First Ecumenical Synod, who synodically affirmed and restored the true teaching concerning the consubstantiality of the Son of God with God the Father against the heretic Arius.

On the Ecumenical Synods

On the Seventh Sunday after Pascha, the Orthodox Church yearly commemorates and glorifies the Holy and God-bearing Fathers who were present at the First Ecumenical Synod in Nicaea. An Ecumenical Synod is the gathering of the shepherds and teachers of the Church of Christ, insofar as possible from the whole inhabited world, for the confirmation of true dogma and good order among Christians. The great authority and importance of synodal deliberations and decisions are founded upon the words of Jesus Christ Himself, Who said: “Where two or three are gathered together in My name, there am I in the midst of them” (Matthew 18:20).

The Third Finding of the Honorable Head of John the Baptist and Forerunner in the Hymnography of the Orthodox Church

By Fr. George Dorbarakis

 

1. The honorable and holy head of John the Forerunner, which had long been hidden, has now come forth from the bosom of the earth like gold from the mines, enclosed not in a jar as before, but in a silver vessel, found in a sacred place and revealed by a priest. This head, which glorious Constantinople, the Queen of Cities, received from Comana together with the faithful emperor, her shepherd, and the faithful people, she welcomes with great rejoicing; and after all had venerated it with deep faith, they placed it in a holy place.

2. A very beautiful image of the relationship between Saint John the Forerunner and Jesus Christ, presented to us in the hymnography of today’s feast, is that of the voice in relation to the Word: “Having become the voice of the Word… O heavenly man and Forerunner” (Ode I). Saint John is thus presented, on the basis of the actual events of his life, as the one who reveals the presence of Christ, who proclaims with a mighty voice, so that all may hear, the coming of the Messiah.

May: Day 25: Teaching 3: On the Birthday of Her Imperial Majesty, the Most Pious Sovereign Empress Alexandra Feodorovna

May: Day 25: Teaching 3:
On the Birthday of Her Imperial Majesty, the Most Pious Sovereign Empress Alexandra Feodorovna
 
(How Should the Gift of Life Be Used?)

By Archpriest Grigory Dyachenko

I. Today our national Church gratefully commemorates and celebrates the birth of our Most Pious Sovereign Empress Alexandra Feodorovna and prays to the Lord that He may grant her many years in health and unchanging prosperity. The gift of life, beloved brethren, is immeasurably great for every individual person, as the gift of rational and free life, to which immortality has been promised, as a gift accompanied throughout a man’s life by countless sweet blessings from the Creator, especially in the life of a Christian. But the gift of the life of the Empress, the Mother of the Russian people, who lightens the heavy burden of rule borne by her sovereign husband the Emperor — the gift, I say, of life, precious for her, is also precious for the whole people, because her life has brought and continues to bring many blessings to the entire nation. Therefore it would be great ingratitude on our part before God and before the sacred person of the Empress not to celebrate this day with hymns of thanksgiving and praises to the Lord flowing from the grateful hearts of the great Russian people.

May: Day 25: Teaching 2: The Third Finding of the Head of the Holy Prophet, Forerunner and Baptist John

 

May: Day 25: Teaching 2:
The Third Finding of the Head of the Holy Prophet, Forerunner and Baptist John
 
(How Should Christians Honor the Memory of John the Baptist?)

By Archpriest Grigory Dyachenko

I. Today, brethren, we celebrate the third finding of the honorable head of the glorious Prophet, Forerunner, and Baptist of the Lord, John. Even before the birth of John it was foretold concerning him that he would be pleasing to the Lord and would be His Forerunner; that he would be a great ascetic; that he would drink no wine or strong drink; and that he would lead the strictest life of fasting. Such indeed was John the Baptist.

From his early years he settled in the wild desert of the Jordan. His food was locusts — a kind of grasshopper — and wild honey; his drink was only pure water. All who came to him he taught repentance, righteousness, love, and a God-pleasing life. Thought of God and pleasing Him was his constant occupation. Therefore the Lord glorified him, calling him an angel and saying of him that among those born of women there had not arisen anyone greater or more glorious than John the Baptist. And the Holy Church in her hymns calls him righteous, worthy of all our praise, and more honorable than all the prophets. Today, on the day of the finding of his honorable head — which had been cut off by order of King Herod and at the desire of his unlawful wife Herodias, because John rebuked their lawless life — the Church has established a feast, inviting all of us to honor his holy memory in a fitting manner.